By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s women archers struck gold but the fancied men’s side disappointed getting only a bronze in recurve team event at the Commonwealth Games here Friday.
The Indian women’s trio of Dola Banerjee, Deepika Kumari and Bombayala Devi edged out tough opponents England 207-206 in a nail-biting finish. The English needed a perfect ten from the last shot to come on top but managed only an eight.
After bringing the country its first ever Commonwealth Games gold from the sport, which re-included in the Games after a gap of 28 years, the archers attributed their success to the rigorous eight-hour daily training for the past one and a half years.
In the semi-final, the hosts carved out an emphatic 213-185 win over Malaysia.
However, later in the day, the Indian men archers – the top ranked team in the competition – caused a heartbreak, losing 211-216 to Australia in their semi-final.
But the trio of Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai salvaged some prestige prevailing over England 221-218 in the bronze-play off at the Yamuna Sports complex.
The elated women archers said they held their nerve towards the end and were also helped by a stroke of luck.
“There is a lot of luck involved in archery and today it was on our side. We were lucky to scrape through. But we played consistent throughout the tournament and that is why are here. Our one and a half years of rigorous training has paid off,” said Dola, the seniormost in the team and the 2007 World Cup final winner.
Women’s coach Poornima Mahato said: “We were practising for one and a half years, eight hours a day. In the run-up to the Games, we played five tournaments abroad. This is the first time such a big event is happening in India. We really wanted to do well”.